RAVENNA, Italy: German Marcel Siem claimed his sixth European Tour title with a play-off win at the Italian Open on Sunday.
Siem, 43, overcame a shaky back nine on his final round to hole a birdie putt on the 18th to tie him at 10-under with Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin, after having at one point held a three-shot lead over his closest competitor.
On the first play-off hole, McKibbin missed his birdie putt and Siem then made no mistake in sinking his as he claimed a win in just his fourth tournament back after hip surgery in February.
“I love this sport and these moments, I work really hard for them. When you get rewarded like this, it’s a very special moment,” said Siem.
“I think it’s the second oldest trophy on mainland Europe. So I’ve got the French Open and this one now, I’m so proud of that.”
However, the second-place finish does at least have a note of consolation for Northern Irishman McKibbin as it ensured his place at The Open Championship in July.
Siem takes Italian Open golf title in play-off
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Siem takes Italian Open golf title in play-off
Rhodes, Tamburlini lead new generation at Aramco Korea Championship, part of PIF Global Series
- Duo to serve as captains in innovative team format
- ‘It’s amazing to be back with my team after a short break, and I’m really excited for this stage of the season,’ says Rhodes
SEOUL: Rising stars Chiara Tamburlini and Mimi Rhodes are set to lead the competition at this week’s Aramco Korea Championship, part of the newly launched PIF Global Series.
The duo are to serve as captains at the tournament which was scheduled to begin on Friday and features an innovative team format.
The Seoul event will feature the young talents taking on leadership roles — reflecting growing confidence in the new generation of women golfing stars.
England’s Rhodes has had a remarkable start to her 2025 season, claiming her first two titles on the Ladies European Tour with victories at the Joburg Ladies Open and the Ford Women’s Open in New South Wales.
Rhodes, who turned professional in 2024, said: “I feel like I’m in a great place after those two wins. It’s amazing to be back with my team after a short break, and I’m really excited for this stage of the season.
“I didn’t expect to be a captain, but just hearing the idea gave me a real boost and confidence that I’m now among the top players.”
Swiss golfer Tamburlini enters the tournament with confidence following a historic 2024 season that saw her win titles in South Africa, France, and Taiwan.
She was crowned Rookie of the Year and topped the overall ranking on the Ladies European Tour.
Tamburlini led her team to victory at the Shenzhen and Riyadh events last year, becoming the first captain to win back-to-back team titles in a single season.
She said: “I’m super excited for this week. Team events are always fun, and I love being surrounded by players I enjoy competing with.
“As a captain it’s important to maintain team spirit and keep everyone motivated throughout the round. I recently played my first major in the US, which was a great learning experience. I hope to bring some of that here.”
Rhodes was part of Tamburlini’s winning team at last year’s Riyadh Championship, which marked her debut in the Aramco Team Series, now rebranded as the PIF Global Series.
All eyes are on the Aramco Korea Championship as it blends competitive golf with team camaraderie, aligning with Saudi Arabia’s broader efforts to expand its international presence in the sport.
Keith Mitchell opens with 61, leads Truist Championship
- Mitchell stayed hot on the front nine with a 6-under 29 coming in, including four straight birdies at Nos. 5-8
- The Philadelphia Cricket Club is serving as a temporary host for the $20 million signature event while Quail Hollow prepares to host the PGA Championship next week
FLOURTOWN, Pennsylvania: Keith Mitchell used a late birdie run to shoot a 9-under-par 61 and take the early lead at the Truist Championship on Thursday in Flourtown, Pennsylvania.
Mitchell started his first round at the Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course on the back nine and parred his first five holes. After birdieing Nos. 15, 17 and 18, he stayed hot on the front nine with a 6-under 29 coming in, including four straight birdies at Nos. 5-8.
At day’s end, it was only good for a one-stroke lead over Denny McCarthy. Tied for third at 7-under 63 are Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Akshay Bhatia and Austria’s Sepp Straka.
McCarthy had a five-birdie run, Fowler posted a front-nine 29 and Morikawa went bogey-free in his first competitive round with new caddie Joe Greiner as the Wissahickon Course made its PGA Tour debut. The Philadelphia Cricket Club is serving as a temporary host for the $20 million signature event while Quail Hollow prepares to host the PGA Championship next week.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry and US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley were part of a tie for seventh at 6-under 64. A massive tie at 65 included Patrick Cantlay, Harris English, Tony Finau, Russell Henley, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim.
Rory McIlroy is the four-time champion of the event at Quail Hollow, including last year, and he managed an opening 66 with six birdies and two bogeys. Justin Thomas, Max Homa and Will Zalatoris are among those tied with him at 66.
Only five players failed to shoot even par or better, including Canada’s Adam Hadwin (1-over 71) and Lucas Glover (2-over 72). There will be no cut after 36 holes.
Jeeno Thitikul happy to see putts go in and lead at Liberty National with a 64
- Thitikul was bogey-free at Liberty National and had the advantage of playing in the morning with virtually no wind on the course across the Hudson River from Manhattan
- Defending champion Nelly Korda had six birdies — three of them on the par 5s — to account for a few bogeys on her front nine and finished in the group at 68
JERSEY CITY, N.J.: Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand feels so much better when she sees putts going in, and Thursday was a happy occasion at the Mizuho Americas Open. She took only 26 putts, eight of them for birdie, in a clean start of 8-under 64 to lead by two shots.
Thitikul was bogey-free at Liberty National and had the advantage of playing in the morning with virtually no wind on the course across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
She finished strong, dropping a short iron into 5 feet on the 17th and judging the distance perfectly on the closing hole with a shot that stayed below the hole and left her only about 3 feet for birdie.
Celine Boutier of France ran off five straight birdies in the middle of her round to account for not taking advantage of the par 5s. She was at 66 with Hye-Jin Choi of South Korea and Lindy Duncan, who lost in a five-way playoff at the Chevron Championship two weeks ago.
“I think my putter working well, better than Chevron week,” said Thitikul, the No. 2 player in the women’s world ranking.
She opened with rounds of 71-75 at the Chevron Championship, the first major of the LPGA season. Thitikul took off last week and devoted a lot of time to her putting, almost to a fault. She found her emotions going all over the place depending on the result.
“First couple days I’ve been back home and I putt a lot, a ton,” she said. “I feel good when I see it drop but I feel bad when I see it miss. ... And I was like, ‘No, you can’t be like this.’ It’s in or it’s not. It has to be the same feelings and emotion.
“I just going to putt less and think less. That’s pretty much I want to do,” she said. “Because mental-wise, pretty important to see all putts in. I don’t want to be so tight and tense.”
Besides, she felt the greens were tough for everyone at the major.
“We’re here, hit it good, and also making the putts,” Thitikul said after her 11th round of 64 or lower over the last four seasons.
Defending champion Nelly Korda had six birdies — three of them on the par 5s — to account for a few bogeys on her front nine and finished in the group at 68.
Korda, the No. 1 player in women’s golf by a big margin, has yet to win this year. She won the Mizuho Americas Open a year ago for her sixth victory of the season. Her game hasn’t been as sharp this year, and Korda is more interested in looking ahead.
“Just got to focus on what my game plan was last year — that was one shot at a time, not to get ahead of myself,” Korda said. “I know at the beginning of the year I had a lot to defend, but I think that instead of putting pressure on myself I should be happy that I was in that moment, that I did achieve all that great success. So just go out here and do what I love.”
The group at 67 included Haeran Ryu of South Korea, coming off a victory last week at the Black Desert Championship in Utah that elevated her to No. 5 in the world. Her round included a bogey on her final hole.
Report: PIF’s LIV Golf investments nearing $5 billion
- Money in Sport had previously projected an increase in the PIF investment of $5 billion by the end of 2025
NEW YORK: LIV Golf’s investors are reaching into their pockets again for funding, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund nearing $5 billion in spending on the three-year-old league.
LIV Golf Investments, the parent company for worldwide LIV Golf operations, has increased its authorized share capital twice this year, once in mid-January and once late in April, for a total of $674.3 million, according to the Money in Sport newsletter on Monday.
This brings the total spend to $4.58 billion, with $1.9 billion of that coming since January 2024.
Money in Sport had previously projected an increase in the PIF investment of $5 billion by the end of 2025.
With a reference to $82 million in revenue from January to October 2024, PIF’s filing included the first time a consolidated revenue figure for LIV Golf has been publicly disclosed.
The filing shows the latest authorizations come with three conditions: a minimum number of events this season, a minimum revenue and a finalized TV deal with Fox Sports.
LIV Golf has made significant changes this year, including Scott O’Neill replacing Greg Norman as CEO in addition to altering its team format to make all players’ scores count in every round.
LIV Golf’s first event in the US of 2025 brought record viewership for the league, with 484,000 people tuning in to watch Marc Leishman’s triumph in Miami on April 8.
Unfortunately for the Saudi-backed league, that was still less than a third of the number of people who opted to watch a standard PGA Tour event the same day.
“I think we all hoped it would have been a little bit further along, and that’s no secret,” American golfer Brooks Koepka said ahead of the LIV Golf Miami tournament at Trump National Doral on April 2.
“No matter where you’re at, you always hope everything is further along. But they’re making progress, and it seems to be going in the right direction.”
Scottie Scheffler matches PGA Tour 72-hole scoring record in 8-shot win at the Byron Nelson
- The runaway victory came 11 years after his PGA Tour debut at the Nelson as a high school senior, and 22 years after a photo was taken of then-6-year-old Scheffler with the tournament namesake
- Scheffler shattered the previous Nelson scoring record of 259 set by Steven Bowditch in 2015
McKINNEY, Texas: Scottie Scheffler cradled his year-old son Bennett — the reason he missed his beloved hometown CJ Cup Byron Nelson in 2024 — and struggled to keep his emotions in check for a TV interview, just as he did a few minutes later during the victory speech.
The top-ranked player had time to prepare for the moment because of the giant lead he took into Sunday’s final round, and he even added a little drama by chasing the PGA Tour’s 72-hole scoring record.
Scheffler matched that mark of 253 set by Justin Thomas at the 2017 Sony Open and equaled six years later by Ludvig Aberg at the RSM Classic, closing with a 63 to finish at 31 under par.
The runaway victory came 11 years after his PGA Tour debut at the Nelson as a high school senior, and 22 years after a photo was taken of then-6-year-old Scheffler with the tournament namesake.
Scheffler couldn’t help but think about that day in 2014, when his now-wife, Meredith, was his girlfriend — not yet the mother of their first child — and sister Callie, now a mother of two, was his caddie.
“My family was all able to be here, and it was just really, really special memories, and I think at times it all comes crashing down to me at once,” Scheffler said. “We have a lot of great memories as kids coming to watch this tournament. I just dreamed to be able to play in it, and it’s more of a dream to be able to win it.”
Scheffler was in position to break the tour scoring record before a flubbed chip that led to bogey on the par-3 17th hole and a par from a greenside bunker on the par-5 closing hole. His 8-foot putt for birdie and the record slid by the left side of the hole.
Hideki Matsuyama has the lowest score in relation to par this season, 35 under on the par-73 Plantation Course at Kapalua.
Scheffler tied the 54-hole Nelson record with an eight-shot lead, and nobody got closer than six during the final round. Erik van Rooyen of South Africa matched Scheffler’s 8-under 63 to finish at 23 under, three shots ahead of Sam Stevens and four ahead of another hometown favorite, Jordan Spieth.
“We spoke last night, and I told you it was going to be a steep mountain to climb, and it was,” van Rooyen said. “Scottie was practically flawless, which is kind of what you expect from the world No. 1. Really proud with the golf I played.”
Scheffler and Spieth finished with the two lowest rounds of the tournament. Scheffler opened with a 10-under 61 on Thursday at the defenseless par-71 TPC Craig Ranch in a suburban community about 30 miles north of Dallas.
Spieth shot 62 in the final round, knowing his friend and fellow Texas alum was about to become the first of the pair to win the event they both cherish.
Spieth was the first to make his tour debut at the Nelson, four years before Scheffler. On top of that, Spieth contended as a 16-year-old in 2010, leading many to believe that surely he would have won it by now.
Scheffler stole those bragging rights.
“I think I’ll take it easy on him,” Scheffler said with a chuckle.
Spieth played with Scheffler the first two days and was 12 shots behind him going into the weekend, so he understands how things have changed. They started the tournament with 13 PGA Tour wins apiece. Now Spieth trails for the first time.
“It wasn’t that long ago I was definitely better than him, and now I’m definitely not right now,” said Spieth, a three-time major champion. “I hate admitting that about anybody, but I just watched it those first two rounds, and, like, I’ve got to get better. It’s very inspiring.”
It was the first victory this year for Scheffler after he won a total of 10 times before May in the previous three years combined, including two Masters victories.
Scheffler’s previous best Nelson finish was a tie for fifth in his most recent appearance two years ago. Now he’s the first wire-to-wire Nelson winner since Tom Watson 45 years ago.
“I’m not jealous of him winning this event over any other,” Spieth said. “I’m jealous of anyone that wins any week. When Scottie wins, I’m happy. It doesn’t matter where it is. If I’m not going to win, I like when he wins.”
Scheffler shattered the previous Nelson scoring record of 259 set by Steven Bowditch in 2015. That tournament was played at the TPC Four Seasons. Normally a par 70, that course had a par-69 layout the final three days when heavy rain forced officials to convert a par 4 into a par 3. Bowditch finished 18 under.
The margin of victory was the second-largest at the Nelson behind Sam Snead’s 10-shot win in 1957, when it was known as the Dallas Open Invitational.
“This is a golf course where you can kind of make a run, and I knew that I couldn’t just coast to the finish line today,” Scheffler said. “I knew I had to put together a good round.”
Because of heavy rain Wednesday and Friday, players were allowed to lift, clean and replace their golf balls in the fairway for the first three rounds, but not in the final round. Aberg had so-called preferred lies during the first rounds at the 2023 RSM Classic.
